Starting a blog takes passion and dedication. When you have been blogging for a while and things don’t seem to be going your way, the obvious reason is that you are missing something.

Tinkering with a few things in your blog can make a huge difference so sometimes it does not take much.

Here are a few tips to improve your blog’s reach after your initial lull.

Keep your consistency

When bloggers start out, they are excited about all the things they want to share with the world. The first week is all about writing something new. Then the pace slows down and by the second month, the phrase “I haven’t posted anything in 3 days” makes you cringe a little lesser. Your readers grow weary of waiting very quickly and soon they will move to the next blogger that excites them and forget that you had a few great pieces.

If you want to stay consistent, the best suggestion would be to stack up on articles on your first week. This is usually the time when ideas to write about just won’t stop popping into your head. You’d rather have 6 weeks with a single post a week than 3 weeks with 4 posts in a week then a 2-month hiatus.

Find an authentic voice

It probably is the biggest hurdle with most bloggers. They lack a voice, so their posts don’t ever come out as juicy as they were at the time the idea was conceived. Each reader knows what they want out there when they are looking for something. Trust that your kind of writing is going to impress someone. Talk to your reader like you would talk to a friend; engage them in a way only you could.

A tip to help you find your voice? You could take out you phone and speak out you post while you record it using the voice to text option. By so doing, you get the post with all the sizzling fresh ideas that bombard you when you first think about it. With time, you will realize that you have developed a certain way of expressing ideas that feels natural to you.

Dare to speak out

Pick fights and pick sides sometimes. Stand up for your views and express them whether they make half your audience go ballistic or not. The people who read your posts want to know what you think about things. Share your view of the world-it gives your audience a glimpse into your personality. Sharing your sentiments on volatile topics is the kind of stuff that connects you to your reader.

Answer readers’ questions…always

Most of the time, this doesn’t seem like much of a deal. Well, am afraid it is. When you come across 3 or more readers that have the same question, it is upon you to provide a response. Apart from giving your audience the feeling that they matter to you, it is also another way of keeping the blog going because it might be fodder for another inspired post.

Share, share, share

That new post isn’t meant for you, so make sure it gets to whomever it is meant for. Use your social media accounts as arsenal here. Link all of them to your blog such that all your followers have access to your new posts. The other thing that may very well tilt the scales in your favor is using friends to share. Encourage them to post a link to your blog post every time you have a new one.

Add some personality

It is basically where the line is drawn between typical online articles and good blog posts. Being you gives the blog uniqueness and life. It’s okay to be angry sometimes or funny or whatever you feel like on that day.

Blogging is all about having fun as you build your audience base. Don’t forget about that. While you work towards building a bigger following, be patient and watch your numbers soar.

About the author

This post is written by Andy Merchant, Co-founder of Bloggers Required. When Andy is not working, he can found him with a camera in hand, pretending to be an amateur photographer. Find him on Google+ and Twitter.

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